Rick Stein’s hazelnut pavlovas with white chocolate and dark berry sauce

“I am a bit of a purist about pavlova,” says TV chef Rick Stein. “As it is one of Australia’s classic dishes, I feel it should be made with something exotic like passion fruit, but when Andrew Sullivan, the pastry chef at The Seafood Restaurant [in Cornwall], made these I was very taken with them. I asked Andrew to send me the recipe, which was for about 50 portions of a lovely seasonal dish using cobnuts and damsons.

“I have cut it back to a more manageable eight servings and made it suitable for winter by using hazelnuts and frozen berries. Thanks, Andrew.”

Hazelnut pavlovas with white chocolate and dark berry sauce

Ingredients
(Serves 8)

For the meringues:
4 medium egg whites
220g caster sugar
2tsp cornflour
½tsp white wine vinegar

For the berry sauce:
500g frozen Black Forest berry mix, defrosted
2–3tbsp icing sugar

To serve:
75g blanched hazelnuts
150g white chocolate
500ml double cream
Fresh raspberries or blueberries

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 120°C/Fan 100°C. Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper.

2. In a clean, grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Gradually whisk in the caster sugar, cornflour and vinegar and continue to whisk until the mixture is thick and glossy and the beaters leave a thick ribbon trail in the mixture.

3. Spoon the meringue mixture on to the sheets to form 8 round nests about 10cm in diameter. Place in the oven and cook for about 1½ hours or until the meringues are crisp and dried out. Leave them in the switched-off oven to cool completely.

4. For the berry sauce, blitz the fruit and sugar in a food processor, then pass it through a sieve. Store in the fridge until ready to use. It will be fine for up to 2 days if you want to prepare ahead.

5. Add the nuts to a hot dry pan and toast for a minute or so until they’ve taken on a little colour. Watch them carefully so they don’t burn. Chop the nuts and set them aside in a bowl.

6. Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.

7. When the meringues are completely cool, dip each one into the melted white chocolate and then into the bowl of chopped nuts. Set aside to cool on a wire rack.

8. Whip the cream until it holds its shape. Spoon a tablespoon of berry sauce on to each plate and top with a teaspoon of the cream, then place a meringue, nut side up, on top. Spoon some cream on to each meringue and use a clean measuring spoon to scoop a hollow in each dollop of cream. (Dip the spoon in water between each plate to get a clean scoop.) Spoon a little berry sauce into the hollow and top with a fresh berry and a few more nuts. Serve immediately.

Rick Stein’s Christmas – Recipes, Memories & Stories for the Festive Season  (£28, BBC Books). Photography by James Murphy. Available now.